Lithgow High School's open boys hockey team has thrilled its home town by bringing home the silver medal in the Combined High Schools Knockout competition.
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The finals were held at Moorebank last week, with the LHS team putting up a spirited fight against gold medallists Grafton in the grand final on Thursday, September 19.
While they were outclassed in the final, coach Shane Conroy said the Lithgow team played very well in their 3-1 loss.
"They played extremely well," he said.
Leading up to the grand final, Lithgow played Westfield in a friendly, after the team they were slated to meet withdrew. They won the match 5-2.
Automatically sent through to the semi-final, Lithgow met Maitland Grossmann High School and took a decisive 4-1 win.
Conroy said he was able to give a few keys players a rest in the second half in the lead up to the grand final against Grafton.
"We knew [Grafton was] the strongest team on the other side of the competition and we had a plan in place," he said.
"We stuck to that plan and, if we were able to make the most of some of our opportunities, we would have had more confidence for the rest of the game."
The boys went into half time 2-0 down in the grand final, but Conroy said they returned to give a "really strong" second half, keeping the second half score-line to 1-1.
He said he couldn't single anyone out for attention, as they played so well as a team during the competition.
"I would like to mention the Year 12 guys as a whole. They stood up and delivered, they led from the front in their last game representing their school," he said.
"It was a pleasure to see them finish with the silver."
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Conroy thanked the team's manager Jeff Dean, who marked his 25th year with the team.
"He does a fantastic job organising the team," he said.
"I'd also like to thank all the parents who travelled and supported the teams - there were a couple of ex-students there as well.
"It was a fantastic effort by the school community."
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Kirsty Horton
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
A journalist with 15 years of experience, Kirsty Horton has been the editor of the Lithgow Mercury newspaper and a journalist for mastheads including the Great Lakes Advocate, Nambucca Guardian News and Moree Champion. She is now a member of ACM's features and special publications team.
